1. Bridging the Gap
Strategies for Transit and Active Transportation
Next Generation Transportation Certificate

2. Happy Projects
Stories of success are often similar.
Stories of failure are plentiful, diverse, and entertaining.

3. Course Outline
1. Introduction
2. Define Strategies and Skills
3. Positive and Negative Examples
Approximately 45 minutes

4. Course Presenter
Dan Ross, CPEng. (NZ), MUP
Senior Transportation Planner,
Opus International Consultants, Ltd.
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Formerly
- Transit Planner – Edmonton Transit System
- Senior Transportation Consultant – Opus, Auckland, NZ
- Traffic Planner/Borough Planner – New York City DOT
- Associate City Planner – New York City DCP

5. Why This Topic?
Similarities towards active
transportation and transit
Burden of proof is on you
- Gatekeepers
- Prejudices
- Responsive strategies
- Different delivery and outcomes

6. Why This Topic?
High Level plans have
similar intentions
• Higher PT/AT trips
• Reduced emissions
• Denser development
• Translate ‘down’ to
specific plans
New York, NY
Auckland, NZ
Vancouver, BC
Edmonton, AB

7. A Common Path
High Level Policy
Priority Statement
Program/Schedule of Projects
Feasibility?
Planners
Engineers
Investigation

8. Some Success
1st Ave Complete Street –
New York, NY
Dunsmuir St. bike lanes –
Vancouver, BC
Beach Rd cycle lanes –
Auckland, NZ

9. Some Success – NYC
NYCDOT
- Cycle mode increases, not at expense of transit
- Fewer crashes, reduced risk

10. Other Success
Auckland, NZ – North Shore to CBD
New Zealand
Transport Agency

11. Other Success
Vancouver, BC
City of Vancouver
Metro Vancouver

12. Setbacks
Daily Mail UK
MySanAntonio.com
Washington Post

13. Setbacks
Toronto Sun
Gothamist NYC

14. Obstacles – Public Opposition
Bike lanes vs. Parking/Business loss
Brooklynpaper.com
Chicago Gazette

15. Obstacles – Public Opposition
Malcolm MayesElitism/’Social Engineering’ Edmonton Sun
NY Daily News
The Onion

16. Old Perceptions Dying Hard
‘Boondoggle’ and Public Menace Double Standard
New Zealand Herald, 2007

17. Old Perceptions Dying Hard
Calgary Sun
NY Daily News
‘Boondoggle’ and Public Menace Double Standard

18. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
High Level Policy
Priority Statement
Program/Schedule of Projects
Feasibility?
Planners
Engineers
Investigation

19. Planners and Engineers
Planners Engineers
Responsible for this Responsible for this

20. Traffic Engineers
Decision Making Factors
• Applied Precedence
• Common Sense
• Methodology
• Ethics
• Empathy - for motorists

21. Engineers are people, too

22. Considerations
• Design/Engineering Standards Guidelines
• Need for defensible decisions
• What’s worked before?
Guiding Methodology

23. 1. Effects on Traffic – short and long term
2. Constructability – how much and where?
3. Whole life costs – operations and maintenance
Minimal Considerations

24. ‘Business Case’
1. Traffic Impacts
2. Constructability
3. Operations and Maintenance
4. Other elements to consider

25. Traffic Impacts
Do Minimum/Do Nothing vs. Proposal

26. 2. What will happen to affected/displaced traffic?
- modelling, route analyses, mode shift?
Traffic Impacts
Be Prepared to Discuss
1. What is an ‘acceptable’ impact?
- i.e., LOS, v/c ratio, peak impacts
3. How many people are affected? Not just cars
- Quantify comparative impacts

27. Example 1
Broadway Blvd – New York, NY
• Road diet for major
Manhattan street; 33rd
St – 59th St
• Not possible without
extensive network
modelling
• Led to Greenlight for
Midtown projects
• Continuously
monitored and updated

28. Example 1 – con’t.
Broadway Blvd – New York, NY
• Willingness to experiment
• Reduced capacity impacts
verified
• Low-cost treatments in
short term
• Adjustments made with
monitoring

29. Example 1 – con’t.
Broadway Blvd – New York, NY
Before After
B’way south of 59th St

30. Example 1 – con’t.
Broadway Blvd – New York, NY
Before After
Times Square

31. Example 2
Cycle Boulevards – Auckland, NZ
Hillsborough Rd
/Quona Ave
Dominion Rd
/Memorial Ave
• 1st attempt at Portland-style bike
boulevards
• Suburban areas with few impacts,
design changes
• Some capacity analysis ultimately
required

32. Example 2 – con’t.
Auckland Cycle Boulevards
• Originally rerouted 0.5km to south to new signalized intersection
• Crossing impacts forced into scope
• No adverse impacts – approved
Dominion Rd/Memorial Ave

33. Example 2 – con’t.
Auckland Cycle Boulevards
Hillsborough Rd/Quona Ave
• Full signalization preferred
• Alternative scenarios forced into scope
• Impacts deemed too severe; signalized crossing accepted

34. Constructability
• Schedule/Programme?
• Simple and cheap is good

35. Example 3
Ngahue Drive – Auckland, NZ
New Stonefields
Development
(former quarry)
Auckland Council GIS Viewer
cycling
facilities
cycling
facilities • 1.5km connecting
cycle way
• On strategic
network
• 3m-5m wide
boulevard/berm
next to golf course
• No room for on-
road facilities

36. Example 3 – con’t.
Ngahue Drive – Auckland, NZ
• Utility poles, drainage,
structural, encroachment,
arboreal issues
• $2.1M - $6.4M cost
• Residential side imperfect but
cheaper
• Optics of cost vs. inability to
provide quality (it’s only money)
Google Street View

37. Example 4
Materials
Auckland, NZ
Fort Street Shared Space
• High-quality redesign
• Full consultation
• NZ$23M for 800m
Jean Batten Place
Before
After

38. Example 4 – con’t.
Materials
New York, NY
NYCDOT Plaza Program
Pearl St Plaza, Brooklyn
• Concrete, asphalt only
• Local partnerships
• Minimal design, cost
• Potential for staging
Corona Plaza, Queens

39. Operations and Maintenance

40. Edmonton Complete Streets Pilot Projects
Design Elements
Example 5
• Sustainability initiative from
Transportation Master Plan
• NACTO-influenced
• Application constraints
- curb build-outs
- lane widths
www.edmonton.ca

41. Edmonton Complete Streets Pilot Projects
Design Elements
Example 5 – con’t.
Curb Extensions
City of Edmonton –
Complete Streets Guidelines, 2013

42. Edmonton Complete Streets Pilot Projects
Design Elements
Example 5 – con’t.
City of Edmonton –
Complete Streets Guidelines, 2013
Preferred Lane Widths

43. Edmonton Complete Streets Pilot Projects
Design Elements
Example 5 – con’t.
Bad for Bulb-outs
Curb Extensions
• No plow equipment for curb
extensions
• Delay until existing fleet is
upgraded

44. Edmonton Complete Streets Pilot Projects
Design Elements
Example 5 – con’t.
Preferred Lane Widths
Seasonal Road Diet
• ‘Windrow’s reduce curbside widths
• Alberta min. is 4.2m to compensate

45. • National Ass’n of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
• Vehicle-Miles Traveled (VMT) over LOS – CEQA
• Multimodal LOS Analyses
• Improved GIS applications
• Data collection techniques
• Social Media outreach
• Tasteful Obstinacy – not new
New-ish Resources

46. New-ish Resources – con`t
`NYCDOT Current Projects`
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/current-projects.shtml
‘California Senate Bill (SB) 743’
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_i
d=201320140SB743
‘Updating Transportation Impacts Analysis in
the CEQA Guidelines’

47. Summary
• Burden of Proof is on you
• Know your implementation context
• Consider risks during planning
• Challenge engineers
• Build your Business Case

48. Building a Better Business Case
1. Traffic Impacts
2. Constructability
3. Operations &
Maintenance
• What will happen to traffic?
• Analysis in scope or RFP
• How will this thing be built?
• Timing of construction
• Materials
• Minimum access requirements?
• How will it function?
• Who will maintain?
Burden of proof is on you

49. THANK YOU
Dan.Ross@opusinternational.ca
Dan Ross - LinkedIn
ca.linkedin.com/pub/dan-ross